Facility Improvement Fee

Your Investments At Work

This is your place to stay-up-to date on improvements being made at City of Spokane golf courses.

Latest News

Irrigation replacement work at Esmeralda Golf Course is 95% complete with 87,800 feet of irrigation pipe, 1,300 feet of pond pipe, 1,460 irrigation heads and 316 valves installed. Remaining work includes pump station installation, removal of old equipment, project related tree work, and commissioning of new equipment. Completion expected by June 2020.

Thank you for your patience during renovations, and for your support of these important improvements to our courses. Not only will they improve play and longevity of our treasured courses, they will conserve water in alignment with the City’s strategic plan.

Indian Canyon's complete irrigation replacement – updating the original 1936 system – is finished, and greens at 5, 8, 9, 12 & 17 have been completely rebuilt. Thank you for your patience during construction. Thank you for your patience during construction. We’re excited for you to experience the improved quality of play as a result of these improvements!

Survey – share your feedback

The Facility Improvement Fee (built into the City of Spokane Golf rates) is re-paying a loan of $7.5 million set aside for golf course improvements over the next four to five years.

A large portion of the $7.5 million has been earmarked for irrigation updates/upgrades as a few of our current systems are from 1935 or the 1950’s. We believe these irrigation projects at each of the four City of Spokane Golf Courses will not only improve our water conservation, but our golfers and their guests will also see significant improvements in their playing conditions.

If funds remain after irrigation replacements and repairs, what additional improvements would you like to see? Your feedback will help guide improvements now and over the next 20 years as funds and resources are available. We want to maximize your investments.

Master Planning

We have selected Robert Trent Jones II Golf Course Architects to develop master plans for each course. The plans will help guide facility improvements beyond irrigation needs and provide a roadmap for future refinements over the next 20 years. Master Plans will be posted below as they are made available.

Esmeralda Master Plan

Indian Canyon Master Plan

Projects funded by the Facility Improvement Fee

Planned Projects

Significant irrigation upgrades are coming to all four City of Spokane courses that will improve course conditions. These irrigation upgrades align with the City's strategic plan for a "Cleaner River Faster". Thoughtful stewardship of Spokane's water resources ensures a thriving economy, ecosystem, and community.

New irrigation system and HVAC at Indian Canyon (Fall 2018 – early Summer 2019) Anticipated cost: $2.1M

Improved turf quality, reduction in operating costs, water conservation, increased level of service

The current system was installed in 1936 and currently leaks 27 gallons per minute

Expect to reduce water use by 30%, saving over 16M gallons of water per year

New irrigation and HVAC system at Esmeralda (2019)

New irrigation system at Downriver (2020/2021)

New irrigation system at the Creek at Qualchan (2021/2022)

Additional Projects

All four courses will see capital improvements over the next few years.

We are still in the planning phase, and will ask for your feedback to prioritize projects as each course under goes master planning.

Why Improvements are Being Made

We heard you!

Through a survey with 1,200 of our golfers in 2017, we identified capital improvements to our courses and facilities that are necessary to providing the experience that our customers want and have come to expect. 40 to 68% of golfers felt we should invest in capital improvements and repairs to remain competitive (percentages varied by course). Thank you for your feedback.

As such, Spokane Parks and Recreation is implementing a Facility Improvement Fee (FIF) at all of our golf courses. This will repay a $7.5M loan for capital investments that we secured in April 2018. The fee will directly fund improvements at all four golf courses.

2020 Facility Impact Fees

These fees are included in the 2020 rates. They will show as a separate line item on your receipt, and are placed in a dedicated fund.

Timeline

Construction Impacts for Players

To lessen the construction impact to golfers, we will do our best to work on projects off-season. When that’s not possible, we’ll minimize the impact to golfers as much as possible and play around the construction.

We will communicate proposed course impacts to the community in advance.

Stay Up to Date

Check back in regularly to see the progress on our courses. We will post updates to plans, projects, and timelines. We’ll also let you know when courses will begin construction.